FORT POLK, LA (LifeSiteNews) — A U.S. army base is issuing red wristbands to personnel who have not taken the Covid vaccine.
Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana is implementing a measure requiring non-vaccinated soldiers to wear red paper wristbands; vaccinated soldiers will wear green ones. The purpose is to distinguish unvaccinated personnel from vaccinated personnel in a thirty day training rotation.
In a statement released to the Army Times, JRTC spokesperson Shelby Waryas stated, “During the rotation 21-09 the Soldiers of 54th SFAB, supporting units and Observer Coach Trainers, as well as anyone supporting the rotation, will wear wristbands denoting COVID vaccination status.” The statement added that the measure is supposed to “assist the OCTs to be more precise in measuring risk in contact tracing and therefore keep more people in the training scenario.” Photos of servicemen in the wristbands have been posted to Facebook.
The story appeared in the Twitter feed of film producer Robby Starbuck, who posted a photo of a man in camoflage holding up a red wristband to the camera. The accompanying caption states:“The armbands for vaxxed/non-vaxxed has begun.”
Starbuck, now a candidate for the House of Representatives for Tennessee’s fifth district, tweeted that he was “so disgusted I barely have words.”
Later in the same thread, Starbuck posted a picture of a man wearing a blue wristband with the statement “Mine was blue.” Starbuck stated that the picture had come from someone in the air force. When asked if the color signified he was not vaccinated, “Ryan,” the source, did not respond.
A soldier at Fort Polk reported to the Army Times that if a serviceman were to lose his wristband, he could suffer punitive action. He added that many have already lost their wristbands on account of the length of training, which is between six in the morning and ten in the evening. The same soldier expressed concern that leaders who are not getting the vaccine are being scrutinized by their superiors.
One anonymous soldier compared the actions of the JRTC to punitive measures in pre-war Germany. Writing on social media in reaction to the JRTC’s post, he stated: “So … first you’re going to mandate the vaccine for folks who work on post under penalty of losing their jobs. Then you’re going to bribe them with a lottery? I’m disappointed, Sir.”
The soldier added, “I’m going to draw a six-pointed star on mine just to remind anyone who still has any sense left what is really going on here.”
The Department of Defense is expected to make the vaccine mandatory for servicemen in the coming days.